Time for NRL CEO Dave Smith to start the cranes and diggers

THE sight of decks of empty seats every time a bomb went up was an immediate reminder the NRL’s biggest challenge lies ahead, writes Richard Hinds.

NRL chief executive Dave Smith was in pain at the season’s launch. This time from being patted on the back, not stabbed there.

There was money in the bank and the delicate handling of some thorny issues added to the feeling rugby league was in good hands. Before the kick-off a rare sense of satisfaction and goodwill settled over a terminally troubled game.

Then came the snore of the crowd. The echoes around ANZ Stadium where just 27,000 watched the season opener between Sydney and Souths, 18,040 turned up for the first Friday nighter between the Bulldogs and the Broncos and 19,860 rattled around as St George put Wests Tigers to the sword on Sunday.

The dismal sight of decks of empty seats every time a bomb went up was an immediate reminder the NRL’s biggest challenge lies ahead. That Smith needs to get the diggers and cranes rolling and build or improve major stadiums if he is to leave a lasting legacy, not merely a healthy bank balance.

Panthers versus the Knights at Centrebet Stadium.

This seemed even more compelling on Saturday night when the wonderful sights and sounds at packed Allianz Stadium during the A-League derby mocked the NRL’s paltry ‘’big game’’ crowds and flat atmosphere.

Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers was an occasion. Sydney-Souths looked like a contractual obligation. Mere content for television paymasters whose most prominent commentators actively urged supporters to stay home and watch their low definition coverage.

I wrote last week that rugby league fans must take responsibility for poor attendances. But, at the first opportunity, the NRL gave them an excuse to stay away.

Roosters v Rabbitohs at Homebush at 8pm on a school night? You might as well play it on Christmas Day in Helsinki.

Some ventured that 18,000 was a decent figure on Friday night for a Sydney club against interstate opposition. But only if you believe rugby league has the same appeal as underwater hockey or scrabble as a live spectator sport.

Gerard Beale of the Dragons celebrates with team mates after scoring a try.

For a tough game the NRL has a lot of turtles. Heads quickly snapped back into shells after the first round fizzers. Some interpreted the back-to-back no-shows at ANZ Stadium as a snub for the NRL’s stadium rationalisation policy and a resounding vote in favour of small, even dilapidated suburban venues.

Squeeze the same crowd’s into Brooky, Kogarah, Shark Park or Parramatta Stadium, they argue, and you’ll have a decent atmosphere. Which, given the slim crowd figures, was difficult to contradict.

Sydney’s complicated geography and Friday night traffic snarls remain, quite literally, a roadblock. Unlike Melbourne where all roads, train lines and tram lines lead to the MCG and Etihad Stadium, there is no sporting epicentre. As some argue, if you don’t play NRL games at Brookvale people most northern suburbanites won’t go anywhere else.

Roosters fans support their team.

But it is not just for the NRL to identify these problems. They must solve them. Because a retreat to the suburbs would put a permanent cap on the game’s growth and, subsequently, risk killing the golden goose of television. A generational decline in people going to games will surely have a long-term impact on the numbers who watch on TV.

The current stadium policy means shoving square peg games into ANZ or Allianz’s rounds holes — something that earns big dollars for the clubs, but does not drive growth.

Does the NRL have the willpower and the muscle to build a new stadium in its western heartland, push the reconfiguration of the unpopular ANZ Stadium, drive renovation of outdated Allianz Stadium or facilitate other multi-million dollar projects?

Young Souths fan during the Rabbitohs v Roosters season opener. Picture Gregg Porteous

Retiring AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou’s final years were blighted by scandal. But he will be remembered as the man who helped put new stadiums in western Sydney and on the Gold Coast and commenced another in Perth; who rebuilt Adelaide Oval to AFL specifications and sourced and spent millions more on other infrastructure.

The O’Farrell Government’s commitment to a second airport at Badgerys Creek comes at an interesting time. While there had been proposals for redevelopment of Parramatta Stadium and in Penrith, the whisper has been the new airport was the most likely venue for any new rectangular stadium. Liverpool, however, would service only a handful of NRL clubs.

But whether it is reconfiguration of ANZ Stadium, refurbishment of Allianz or a third purpose-build stadium, the NRL must find a way to improve and fill big venues. Otherwise the current administration will be remembered as competent bean counters, not robust visionaries.